Logistics Management |
By John Schulz | January 31, 2018
One year after he first promised to make America’s highways great again, President Donald Trump again is touting what at first glance appears to be a bold $1.5 trillion infrastructure program. And once again, he makes no concrete way of paying for it.
In his State of the Union address last night, Trump asked Congress to produce a bill that generates at least $1.5 trillion “for the new infrastructure investment we need.” But such a deal likely will be paid for by cash-strapped state, local and private entities—not the federal government. Even fellow Republicans immediately questioned the worth of such a promise without a concrete way to pay for more concrete and asphalt. John Cornyn, R-Texas, a member of the Senate leadership, told the Wall Street Journal right after the speech, “The question is how you are going to pay for it? You tell me how we can pay for it and I'll tell you what we can do."
Sen. Angus King, I-Maine, a senator who usually caucuses with Democrats, echoed Cornyn’s call for specifics, telling Business Insider: “"There was no comment about where the money would come from. That's what worries me."
Freight interests immediately hailed the initiative. The Coalition for America’s Gateways and Trade Corridors (CAGTC) urged an emphasis on multimodal freight infrastructure. In his address, Trump predicted that 2017’s tax reform law will yield increased economic activity – but without sufficient federal investment in goods-moving infrastructure, these positive returns may not fully be realized.
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